When choosing colors, I have the terrible habit of playing it safe. I tend to pair pastels with pastels, and brights with brights.

But every once in a while I like to go back to basics and stare at a color wheel for a bit of inspiration. I don’t bother with complimentary or primary or secondary color “rules,” but rather, just pick and choose something that catches my eye.

Step 1: Getting Started

This purple silk was purchased online, and when it arrived it was a bit more sheer than I expected (not ideal for the slim fitting skirt I was making). Not to be deterred, I decided to underline!

Step 2: Underlining

I was already planning to underling the back skirt pieces for stability, but I had anticipated using silk organza. However, that was not going to alter the sheer quality of the fabric. In the end, I decided to go with some pink cotton. It is not quite flesh colored, but unlike a matching purple color, it does not change the tone of the silk. It maintains the look of a sheer fabric with quite a bit more modesty built in.

Step 3: Hand Basting

One of the big secrets to dealing with underlining is basting darts and pleat lines before sewing them together. It makes such a difference to help keep the two fabrics from shifting during construction! And, of course, hand sewing two different fabrics together works much better than a machine. The extra time it takes is worth it in the end!

Step 4: The Obvious Choice

Pairing purple with blue and green is lovely, but rather obvious. And that is my go-to when it comes to the color purple.

This blouse that I made as a companion piece for the skirt makes that very clear!

Step 5: Fun With Color!

Recently, I pulled my lavender skirt out of the closet and started looking for a suitable blouse. This is one of my favorite prints, so it caught my eye. It is a bit more colorful than most of my wardrobe, but there is a bit of purple there. It is not a perfect match back to the lavender silk, but I love the way the red, green, and yellow bring another tone to the skirt.

Springtime is here!

And that is the magic of color!